The Tour

Hi...its me Scott.
So I am currently travelling across the country with the rock band Billy Talent. So far most days are 14-20 hours long. My day consists of waking up(around 10:00am)...and figuring out where I am. I then head off to find a room to shower in, the showers are usually pretty ugly so I have to wear flip flops on my feet. After showering I go and find catering. Catering is a real bonus because I eat better then I would at home (since it is already prepared for me). After I eat I go and find out which dressing rooms we are using for the day so I can direct the band in the right direction when they wakeup. By this time I usaully have a few pages of pass requests sitting on my desk in the production office, I quickly finish these so I can round up the band for press. The press has been increasing steady the closer we get to Toronto. Once press is done I usaully call one of the upcoming venues to advance the security for the show. The next thing (and probably one of the most important) is the venue security meeting. This is when I tell the local security people what we expect of them, and this is when I find out what type of security I will be working with....some are really good and others are...not. Soon doors for the event are open and I can have my dinner at catering. Once the concert starts I usaully head out to make sure the support acts are ok, I will stay out there for awhile depending on if there is a pre-show meet and greet with Billy Talent. The meet and greet usually consists of a group of contest winners who get to talk to the band for about 1 minute (this gives enough time for autographs and pictures), I then usher them out and send in the next group. Soon after the meet and greet is over its time for Billy Talent to hit the stage. This is probably one of the easiest yet most stressful times of the day. I stand just off stage and watch the band. My job is to remove anyone from the stage who makes it past the local security guys. This has happened 4 times so far and there has been no problems removing them so far. Once the show is over its time to round up the aftershow guests. These people are usually friends and family of the band so they get to stay for awhile and hang out. Its now around 1:00am and time to go to the bar with the band. Again this isn't difficult but very stressful as you don't know who is in the bar with you and you have to stay ever vigilant (I guess thats why its tattooed on my arm). The bars are usually more then happy to allow the band to stay after hours. It is usually around 3:30 to 4:30am when we return to the bus. Sleeping on a tour bus is difficult at first because of the rumble from the road and the fact that you are in a coffin sized bed, but after awhile its actually easier to sleep in the bus then a regular bed. So thats a typical day on tour, it goes by very quick and I don't even realize how many hours I've worked. It will be nice to come home and see Joanne and the puppies.